English woman wakes up with strong Welsh accent six weeks ago despite never going to Wales
Englishwoman who suddenly woke up with a Welsh accent calls for medical attention saying ‘I think it’s stuck’
- Zoe Coles, from Lincolnshire, speaks with a Welsh accent due to a rare condition
- She has a functional neurological disorder (FND), which affects motor control
An English woman begs for help after suddenly developing a strong Welsh accent despite never having been to the country.
Zoe Coles, who lives in Lincolnshire, fears the trademark accent is ‘stuck’ and won’t go away after she started speaking with a Welsh lilt six weeks ago.
The pub worker, who originally developed a German accent before changing to Welsh, believes she has developed Foreign Accent Syndrome (FAS), a rare condition that changes the way people talk.
While it may seem funny, Ms. Coles says she hasn’t been able to go to work and is worried “something has gone wrong in my head.”
She is seeking medical attention to address the problem, which may be related to a neurological condition that is causing her chronic pain.
Zoe Coles woke up six weeks ago to discover she had developed a Welsh accent despite never going to the countryside
She enlists help to find an expert or neurologist who can help her cope with the sudden change
The Lincolnshire native, who worked at The Raymond Mays pub in Bourne, was diagnosed last year with functional neurological disorder (FND) – something that affects motor control and speech.
Studies have linked FND to Foreign Accent Syndrome, but she is now seeking help and has taken to social media for help finding an expert or neurologist who can do this.
It comes after she said she was unable to get a referral to a specialist from St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
Talking to the BBCshe said, “There are a lot of FND patients, but this accent syndrome… something has obviously gone wrong in my head, like something is clearly wrong, because who the hell wakes up with a totally different accent?
“So I’d like to work with someone [who] can help me and then we can help others.’
Before the recent development, Ms. Coles – who posts videos of how she deals with FND on social media – spoke with a Southern English accent.
In videos shared on her TikTok account @zoecoles1, she reveals how she copes with the condition that causes her chronic pain and sometimes even leaves her unable to speak and walk for a period of time.
But this latest development has left her even more frustrated, saying on video, “I just got this accent and it’s not going away, I think it’s stuck.” I hoped it would just be an outlier and that I would get over it.”
She told the BBC: “A lot of people ask me, ‘where are you from – Cardiff?’ I feel like I have to explain to them what happened.
“It’s not really known, it’s really rare, so people don’t believe it’s a thing.”
Ms Coles added that she was willing to be a ‘guinea pig’ to get to the bottom of what is causing her fluctuating accent.
‘I would like to work with someone who can help me and then we can help others. I want to help anyone who has this – I’m not alone, but let’s start with me. I’ll be a guinea pig.’